Pregnant in Power: U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen Confronts a System Built for Men

In the fight for better policies for mothers and families, Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.) has also had to fight to have her own voice heard on Capitol Hill.

Last October, five months pregnant with her second child, Pettersen proposed a change to the House Rules Committee for “a narrow exception to the prohibition on proxy voting” that would allow members of Congress to vote by proxy while on parental leave, a push begun by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) after giving birth to her first child in 2023. This would have ensured, Petterson said in a recent interview with Ms., that as a member of Congress “you’re able to have your voice, your constituents’ voices represented” during a critical time for your family and health. 

Despite Republicans’ stated opposition to proxy voting, Pettersen and Luna scored a rare bipartisan win to move forward with the measure on April 1, representing an embarrassing defeat for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). In response, Johnson “adjourned the entire House for the rest of the week,” buying himself time to broker a deal to kill the effort that would have enabled remote voting for new moms in Congress.

Full article published by Ms. Magazine. 

Image by Ms. Magazine